


Hiccup

by CommanderBunnBunn



Series: Gemini verse [2]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Good Dad Jack, Parental Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27054697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderBunnBunn/pseuds/CommanderBunnBunn
Summary: AJ gets the hiccups while on the road with Jack.Based in @impossiblepluto's Gemini 'verse
Series: Gemini verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741264
Comments: 13
Kudos: 19





	Hiccup

**Author's Note:**

> We're halfway through Whumptober, so here is some pure tooth rotting fluff to cleanse your palate before the second half of the glorious whump being posted this month. 
> 
> There are spelling mistakes, I'm sure. For some reason, my spell checker didn't mark anything as misspelled even when they clearly were.

Jack uses a goofy voice and tickles AJ across the tummy and back. The little boy laughs so hard he can’t even breathe. For a second Jack feels badly about it, but AJ is all smiles and enjoying it. 

“Stop!” the kid yells between shrieks of joy, not an ounce of terror in his voice. Jack’s hands immediately go up in the air by his ears. “No, don’t stop,” AJ laughs, “I didn’t really mean for you to stop.” He’s panting so hard, Jack wants to give the little nugget an extra second to catch his breath again. Big fingers wiggling menacingly and creeping slowly from high above, AJ squeals in anticipation for the next tickle attack.

More giggles and delighted wailing and Jack is sweating from all the horsing around, “Staaaaaahp!” AJ yells and Jack’s hands-off immediately. “No, keep going!” the small blonde cheers!

Jack starts the looming wiggle fingers again and raises his eyebrows in question, “are you sure? I don’t want you to pee your pants or get a cramp in your side from laughing too much.” The kid nods his head excitedly. “Are you sure you’re sure? I once made my nephew throw up from tickling him so much. There were Froot Loops everywhere, it was a rainbow mess.”

“Eeeeew!” AJ acts offended to mirror the disgusted look on Jack’s face at the thought, but he really only imagines rainbows all over the carpet, it’s quite a lovely mental image. Hands now frozen in the air reminiscent of Han frozen in carbonite, Jack is perfectly still waiting on AJ to send him back into action. “Ok, let’s go!” AJ cheers before tensing up his whole body in anticipation of the incoming tickles. 

Without moving a muscle, Jack waits patiently for AJ to activate him. 

“Come on, I can handle it. Tickle me!” He squeals and kicks his legs, but Jack doesn’t move. “Jack! I’m ready! I promise I won’t throw up.” Jack remains frozen in place. AJ searches his brain for the magic word to use, wondering what kind of weird plan Jack has. The boy runs with his first instinct, "Please?” 

“Aaaah!” Jack yells and falls over AJ with his entire body, tickling AJ’s ribs with his nose, neck with his fingers, sides with his elbows, there’s so much tactile stimulation that AJ absolutely wails with joy. He laughs so hard and for so long that he can’t even make a sound anymore, tears stream out from the corners of his eyes, he doesn’t remember ever experiencing this kind of glee. Jack stops for the little one to catch his breath again. 

AJ’s whole face is red with silent laughter. He squirms and beams, shoulders heaving in happiness and shaking his head for jack not to stop. He blares out a hard laugh that is cut off by a hiccup. Blue eyes wide and eyebrows squeezed together in confusion, another hiccup rips. AJ scrambles up to sitting, slightly perturbed by his diaphragm’s betrayal. 

After two more powerful and loud hiccups, AJ’s face twists in a mix of curiosity and concern, Jack recognizes this look of deep contemplation. He’s seen it on Mac as his brain scans the endless files of information stored in his brain, but AJ can’t seem to find something to match this particular query. Another hiccup and his face turns down in despair.

“What’s wrong, little buddy?” Jack’s expression melts into paternal comforting. 

_Hiccup_. “That.” he waits for another to strike, but it doesn’t. “Am I gonna throw up?” Poor AJ looks so ashamed.

Jack blinks, lacking the right words, does this kid really not know hiccups? Has he been that deprived of human contact that he hasn’t seen it happen to someone else? There’s no way he didn’t have them as a baby; he figures bottle fed in a lab, they must have come up with a cure for hiccups and didn’t tell anyone. 

_Hiccup_. Panic starts to show on his tiny features.

Scrambling to assure him it’s all fine, Jack puts his hands on the kids biceps, steadying him more with a gesture than actual pressure on his arms. “That’s a hiccup. It’s fine. Just a little spaz in your body.” 

“Really?” AJ trusts his favorite source of information, but isn’t sold on this concept. “I’ve had hiccups before from drinking water too fast, but it’s just _hiccup_ two or three and it’s gone.”

“Well, son, you’ve laughed so hard that you’ve gone and given yourself the hiccups. But don’t worry, they’ll go away soon, especially if you normally only have a few of them.”

 _Hiccup_ “They’re not usually this strong. I don’t think I like it.” The blonde’s nearly invisible eyebrows scrunch together with concern. _Hiccup. Burp._ A sly smile creeps up his lips from the belch. Jack can’t help but smile back at him. 

_Hiccup_ There’s a slight pause before another burp and AJ giggles. 

“Think we’re done with the tickles for now,” Jack announces as he stands from the couch and heads toward the kitchenette for a glass of water. 

Small shoulders sag, “Ok.” _Hiccup_ AJ resigns and follows Jack into the kitchen.

“Here,” Jack hands him a small cup of water, “chug this down real quick and maybe they’ll stop. One big gulp.” 

_Hiccup_. AJ takes it down in one over exaggerated swallow. Both hold their breath in anticipation. _Hiccup_.

Jack ruffles his hair, “We’ll give it a few more minutes to go away on its own, then we’ll try something else. Ok, Sport?” The child nods and they settle back in front of the TV. 

AJ hiccups through an entire episode of Storybots. He complains he’s a little old for the show, but secretly still enjoys watching how things work and gets sucked in immediately. Jack enjoys the strange cameos from celebrity parents and the expertly masked adult humor. 

Ordering a pizza for delivery was their agreed on dinner. It’s a rare treat to have dinner arrive at the front door, and the two of them can polish off an entire pizza. Jack hands the dude a twenty dollar bill, shuts the door with his foot, and announces the arrival of the surprise dinner treat as if AJ weren’t 3 feet away. 

They chow down on dinner, and Jack twists open the two litre bottle of Dr. Pepper, hoping to drive himself to hiccups of camaraderie. Jack chugs a full eight ounces in one gulp, the bubbles of the freshly opened bottle burning hard as they go down his throat. His belch was loud enough to rattle the walls, and AJ collapses to the floor laughing and clutching a pizza crust in his fist. No hiccups, so Jack tries again. Another gigantic belch, and Jack succeeds in giving himself hiccups too. 

With dueling hiccups, the boys finish their dinner. “So you gave yourself hiccups with soda?” AJ asks, eyes wide.

“Yep! Solidarity hiccups. I wanted to make you feel better _hiccup_ about it.” AJ smiled and hiccuped his approval. “You wanna try another hiccup cure?” Jack asks and the kid nods. “Ok, this one I got from my Mama. You’d like her. She likes to cook and wears silly aprons. So wait right here, and I’ll go get it out of the car.”

Jack searches stash of canned foods and nonperishables he keeps in a box in the trunk during their travels, never taking his eyes off their door. He returns to the room, sugar packets and a paper bag in hand. 

AJ sits cross legged across from Jack on the couch cushion, and Jack rips the top off three sugar packets. “Stick out your tongue,” he suggests. A tiny pink tongue pokes through closed lips like he’s blowing a raspberry. “No, silly, like this.” Jack throws his head back, mouth open wide, and tongue extended as far as it’ll go.

Mimicking Jack’s exact expression, he hiccups again and laughs at how loud it is with his mouth open. He composes himself and tries again. Jack asks, “you ready?”

“Uh huh,” his attempt at a reply with his tongue out is adorable and unintelligible, so he nods to make it clear. 

“OK, here goes.” Jack prepares him. AJ closes his eyes just in case. After another hiccup, Jack pours the packs of sugar out together on the boy’s tongue. “Ok, swallow.”

He swallows the gritty mouthful of sugar. “Ew!” he exclaims which amuses Jack.

Swallowing a few more times, he gets the last of the granules down and makes a face. _Hiccup_. “I guess it didn’t work.” He frowns. “How did you get rid of yours?”

“Huh,” Jack realizes, “I didn’t even notice they were gone. Cool. I guess they just went away on their own. Or the soda maybe?”

The eagerness in his voice is endearing, “can I try that too?” 

He’s already downed all that sugar, why not add soda to it, “ok, Bud.” Jack agrees.

Jack pours a glass for AJ and another for himself; he hands the glass over and presents his own for a toast. The cups clink together, and as Jack puts his glass to his lips, AJ says, “bottoms up.”

Spitting his drink back into his glass, Jack almost chokes. “Where’d you learn that?” 

AJ shrugs after downing his soda, “TV?” _Hiccup_ His eyebrows turn red from the new sensation of a carbonated beverage. Jack knows this won’t end well.

 _Burp. Hiccup_ AJ laughs hysterically, hiccups peppered in throughout his giggle fit. 

“You keep that up, you’re gonna get DOUBLE HICCUPS.” Jack warns sternly. 

AJ stops suddenly and sits up straight, “What?” 

“I’m just kidding, laugh all you want. I won’t get worse. Hell...I mean heck, it may get better.” 

_Belch._ AJ laughs more. _Hiccup_. He laughs harder. “It’s not working.” 

“Ok, try this one.” Jack pulls his tongue out with his fingers and holds it extended as far as he can. “Ptull yr ptung ow wike pthith.”

AJ laughs harder and tries it himself. He speaks something unintelligible and laughs hard, followed by a hiccup. 

They release their tongues. Jack already regrets the sugar buzz that’s about to hit. The kid rarely gets sugar, much less a mouthful of sugar and soda. 

“Ok, now try this,” Jack suggests, “hold your breath as long as you can. Like this.” he overdramatically sucks in a huge breath and holds it, puffing his cheeks and pinching his nose closed. AJ follows suit in his own adorable way. Jack absolutely loves that the kid is so eager to do everything he does. Sometimes he has to watch what he’s doing so the little one doesn’t pick up on undesirable behaviors and habits. 

_Hiccup._ The sound is hilarious bouncing around inside puffed cheeks. Jack laughs at the boy but keeps his own breath held to keep the kid going. Eventually, Jack realizes it isn’t going to work and blows his air out hard.

“What next?” Jack asks and AJ shrugs. “Movie?” Another shrug. 

Jack turns on an animated film he finds as he scrolls the channels; AJ loses interest quickly, fidgeting and bouncing his legs, like Jack predicted. 

"Let's try this one," Jack suggests and AJ has his full attention. "This one worked for my cousin, George. You breathe in real deep." Jack breathes in and holds it, trying to talk with exhaling, "then you blow it all the air out as hard as you can." He exhales. "Then you hold your breath and put your fingers in your ears." Jack demonstrates, making faces the whole time. "Your turn."

AJ tries. He wiggles his little button nose, then squints before raising his eyebrows up high. _Hiccup._ His hands fall from his ears with disappointment. 

He gets AJ to breathe in and out of a paper bag as well with no success.

“I know it’s late, little dude,” Jack begins, “but you wanna go out and throw the ball with me?” Maybe the distraction will help ditch the hiccups.

“Yeah!” he jumps off the couch and runs to the door of the motel room. 

“Ok, there’s a courtyard out back, if the lights work, we’re good.”

The ball and gloves are pulled from the trunk and the pair circle to the back of the motel. The lighting isn’t the best, but they stand in the more lit up area and start with some underhand back and forth. Jack ups the skill level and has AJ lob the ball at him overhanded for a bit. The kid’s aim is unprecedented, Jack can see the little figures and angles and kinetic energy formula flying around AJ’s blonde mop. Jack moves six feet to one side or the other each time to keep AJ on his toes. 

“Allright little man, it’s your turn to move. Scoot over that way and stand on that patch where the grass is missing and send me the heat. Then you move back to this spot and I’ll throw it back. We’ll keep this going until you’re tired out. Ok?” The little guy adapts well to hiccuping while catching and throwing, only missing twice. 

“OK!” AJ cheers, a little too loud for nighttime. 

They pack it up and go back to the room, the child adequately worn out. Both get washed up and changed into pajamas, AJ's hiccups not subsiding at all. 

While brushing their teeth, AJ sits on the bathroom counter and Jack tries another hiccup cure. "Here, try this one." He puts his toothbrush long ways across his lips, held in place by his canine teeth. AJ does the same and laughs at how silly they look in the mirror. Jack tips up a glass of water to his parted lips. It dribbles out of his mouth all over his shirt; AJ tries with significantly less water and it dribbles out of his mouth too before he drops his toothbrush. 

AJ giggles uncontrollably. _Hiccup._ "Jaaa-aah-ck," he can't contain his laughter. "Who told you that one was a good idea." 

"That was one my PawPaw had me and my cousins do if we had hiccups. I hadn't thought about it since I was little. Now that I see it in action, I think he made us do this because it looks so silly. I doubt it actually does anything for hiccups at all. 

Jack’s shirt soaking was mostly for show; he enjoyed being goofy for his kid knowing that one day he'll be grown and won't think Jack is funny anymore. With his own wet t-shirt off and hanging to dry on the shower curtain rod, Jack pulls at the wet spot on AJ's shirt. "It's not that wet. You want me to use the blow-dryer on it? Your mop could use a little drying too." 

AJ nods in agreement and plugs his ears in anticipation of the loud hair dryer. They make quick work of it and head to bed. 

"Good night, AJ." Jack kisses the top of his head and pulls the covers up to his shoulders, tucking him in snugly. 

_Hiccup._ "Night, Jack."

AJ closes his tired eyes and Jack brushes the hair back from AJ's forehead a few times before he climbs into the adjacent twin bed and clicks the lamp off. 

With the curtains pulled closed, a small amount of light still spills into the room. Jack watches the outline of his small charge in the other bed jerk with each hiccup. _Hiccup._ For the next few minutes the hiccups continue. 

"Jack?" AJ whines, "I can't sleep like this."

"I know, son. Let's go to the couch and watch a movie."

"OK." _Hiccup._ He tries not to sound excited about pushing bedtime back even further. What a treat. He hops right out of bed and scurries to the couch with his sleep sack in hand. Jack moves slower and slides a new t-shirt on over his bare chest before he settles into the corner of the sofa. As soon as Jack's settled, AJ uses his lap as a pillow and they settle on The Lego Movie. They'd already watched it a few times on the road so far, so jumping in after the first twenty minutes wasn't a big deal. 

Jack strokes AJ's hair as he quietly hums along with the movie's songs. AJ dozes off between hiccups, and eventually falls asleep, the hiccups are gone. To make sure it's not a fluke, and he's actually sleeping soundly, Jack waits a little longer before carrying AJ in his sleep sack back to his bed.

As he places the boy into the small bed, AJ moans and whines just a little. Before a full on cry can erupt, Jack crawls into the bed behind him, pulling him into a firm snuggle. AJ settles instantly, and Jack figures he can handle some back stiffness in the morning if it means his kid feels comfortable and loved. 


End file.
